WIZARDS SIGN GUARD MORRIS ALMOND

April 16, 2012

Roger Mason Jr. Waived to Open Roster Spot

WASHINGTON, DC – Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that team has signed guard Morris Almond and waived Roger Mason Jr.

Almond has spent the past four seasons in the NBA D-League, where he has averaged 24.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and shot .495 from the field in 119 career games (112 starts). He has played with the Utah Flash (2007-09), Maine Red Claws (2009-10 and 2011-12) and the Springfield Armor (2009-10).

Almond played in 29 games (28 starts) with the Red Claws in 2011-12, averaging 23.4 points and career bests in rebounds (6.0 rpg) and field goal percentage (.543). He led the D-League in scoring in 2007-08, averaging 25.6 points per game and also posted a pair of 50-point games (51 points against Austin Toros and 53 points against the Bakersfield Jam).

Almond originally entered the league as a first round pick (25th overall) with the Utah Jazz in the 2007 NBA Draft. In two seasons with the Jazz (2007-09), Almond averaged 3.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 34 career games. He saw action with the Orlando Magic during training camp in 2009 and also played overseas with Read Madrid (Spain) in 2010, Scavolini Pesaro (Italy) in 2010-2011 and BC Cherkasy (Ukraine) in 2011. A four-year letterman at Rice University, Almond finished as the school’s fourth all-time leading scorer (1,825 points) and was named Conference USA Player of the Year after averaging 26.4 points per game in his senior season.

Mason, who underwent season-ending surgery today to repair an avulsion fracture in his left index finger, averaged 5.5 points and 1.3 rebounds while shooting .383 (59-154) from three-point range in 52 games for the Wizards this season.